Islam: a Religion of Peace?

This is the thought that is going through minds of many intellectuals today. In order to answer this question, one has to go through the teachings of the Prophet Mohammad and also the entire book of the Quran. Possibly even then, it would not be easy to come up with a straight answer.

When I think about the divine message that His Divine Eminence Imam Mehdi Gohar Shahi has brought us and the teachings of love of God, it clearly answers the question.

Whether or not Islam is a religion a peace, Islam is not compatible with the contemporary times.

This message of HDE Gohar Shahi is not [completely] new. Every religion was given a flavour of this message of love. If this message of love was not the core of that religion, that religion would have destroyed.

A majority of the Muslims are only superficially aware of the rituals of the religion. However, most pragmatic and Sufi scholars oftentimes give their statements declaring that Islam is a religion of peace.

Even if we say it, it will not make any difference because Islam has historically seen bloodshed. Whether the Muslims agree or not, it will not change the truth.

The History of Bloodshed in Islam

The first four caliphs of Islam are known to be ‘The Rightly Guided Caliphs (Khulfa-e-Rashideen).’ ‘Rashideen’ means ‘Guided ones,’ and it comes from the root word ‘Rushd.’ The word ‘Murshid (guide)’ also comes from the same root family.

Abu Bakr Sadiq was elected as the first caliph. The second was Omar bin Khattab, the third was Usman-e-Ghani and the fourth was Ali. No caliph in Islam is seen to be equal of them.

When Prophet Mohammad started giving his message to people and they began to come into the fold of Islam, enmity and animosity against Prophet Mohammad grew stronger every day. There was a time when Prophet Mohammad decided to migrate from Mecca to Medina. For a while, Prophet Mohammad stayed in Medina. When the Muslims of that time increased in number and had a sizeable army, they went back to Mecca. Many wars were fought defending the new religion of Islam.

It is very interesting to note that Amir Hamza (Prophet Mohammad’s uncle) and some other Companions of the Prophet would ask him to allow them to wage a war against the enemies of Islam. Prophet Mohammad would not allow them; he would ask them to stay quiet and wait until God himself asked them to do so.

Historically speaking, the decision of whether or not Muslims were allowed to wage a war against the enemies of Islam was not even taken by Prophet Mohammad himself. He waited for God’s approval.

However, today [ISIS] are not in connection with God. They’re not even practising Muslims. They’re not even aware of the teachings of the Quran or Islam. They’re holding weapons and slaughtering people without a reason. Whoever is strongest becomes Amir ul Momineen(their leader). This is total insanity. You cannot call it jihad. This is not jihad; this is evil massacre.

All the wars which were fought before the conquest of Mecca were fought in order to defend the newly established religion of Islam. However, after the conquest of Mecca, Political Islam had been established. A new Muslim empire emerged. Imposition of the sacred law took place. The Muslim state was a sovereign country, the head of which was the Prophet of God. That head of the Islamic State, the Prophet of God, was introduced and declared by God in the Quran to be merciful for the entire humanity.

The Quran said, ‘Prophet Mohammad is mercy for the entire humanity. Not just for this world, but for the entire universe.’ [21:107]

He is not just mercy for Planet Earth but also for human beings who lived on the Moon, for human beings who live on Mars, on the Sun. Seven planets were introduced by God where human beings inhabited. Prophet Mohammad was declared to be mercy for all those planets where God sent human beings.

Today are the war-mongers who carry black flags imprinted with the motto of Islam whilst butchering innocent people actually portraying the true image of Quran? Do [their actions] indicate that they are establishing peace or mercy? No.

Any war fought between Muslims and their enemies before the conquest of Mecca was carried out in order to defend their religion. However, after the departure of Prophet Mohammad, what we have come to know from history is that only the first caliph of Islam died a natural death. Omar bin Khattab (the second caliph), Usman-e-Ghani (the third caliph) and Ali ibn Abi Talib (the fourth caliph) were all murdered by Muslims.

That was not the end of butchery. Some time later, when the son of Muayiwa, Yazid, came into power, he butchered all the male children and all adults in the household of Prophet Mohammad. He was a Muslim. The grandson and the great grandsons of Prophet Mohammad were butchered.

This was not the end. Massacre and bloodshed continued. Islam has seen more butchery, more massacre, more carnage and more bloodshed than any other religion in the world.

Is it only today that we see Muslims slaughtering human beings?

It is only Sufi Islam that has established some peace. Individuals like Data Ali Hajweri, Mevlana Rumi, Khawaja Gharib Nawaz were those who manifested love to people of all religions because they were connected with God. Their hearts were filled with God’s love.

It is naturally impossible for one who truly loves God to hate God’s creation.

Islam Today

We don’t see unity among Muslims. In whichever Arab country oil has been discovered, the profit from that oil goes into personal pockets of their royal family. It is not even shared by their countrymen; forget about other Muslims. Whether it is the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait or Saudi Arabia – do you see unity?

I am not saying Islam is a bad religion. Islam was not a bad religion. A religion is like a an outfit and every individual has a different size. You will only wear a suit that fits you. Similarly, this religion of Islam was tailor-made by God to suit Arabs.

It does not suit Pakistanis, Indians or any other nation. No matter how good a Muslim you are, if you steal a loaf of bread and the Amir ul Momineen orders your hands to be chopped off, the next day you will say, ‘I am not a Muslim anymore! What kind of a religion is this?’

But [in general] Arabs do not understand the language of love. The only language they will understand is the language of the stick.

Sometimes we say things we don’t mean in order to make peace, wipe out hatred and calm down people who are aggressive. But to be honest with you, it appears to me now in this moment in time that Islam was not a religion of peace. Maybe it is so in the book, but not in practice.

If a Wahhabi Muslim is killing a Sunni Muslim, don’t be surprised! Today you say, ‘Muslims are bad,’ but what about the Muslims at the time of Prophet Mohammad? Omar bin Khattab, the second caliph of Islam, did not have any respect for the Prophet himself. Who said Muslims have any ethics? They do not have moral values.

There is no verse in the Bible which says, ‘O’ Christians, speak to Jesus with respect.’

This is because they already spoke with respect, therefore God did not need to command them to.

In contrast, the Quran says, ‘O Momineen (true believers), do not raise your voice over the Prophet Mohammad’s.’ [49:2]

Muslim scholars do not tire of praising people like Omar bin Khattab and other Companions of the Prophet, but this verse from the Quran is referred to Momineen [at the time of Prophet Mohammad]. These people must have raised their voices over the Prophet’s, which is why God had to tell them not to.

You won’t find a verse in the Bible telling Christians not to use certain words. However, in the Quran, God tells the Arabs:

‘Don’t use this word, Ra’ina, for Prophet Mohammad. Ask him instead for Merciful Glances upon you.’ [2:104]

Editor’s note: Ra’ina is an insulting word used to get someone’s attention.

This was the standard of literacy in the Arab world.

The Compatibility of Islam

The religion of Islam is a tailor-made religion for one nation: those who lived in the desert and grazed animals.

If you are living in New York, Melbourne, London, Washington D.C or Paris, even if you try hard to practise Islam, you cannot do it because you cannot go to a mosque five times a day.

In some countries like Norway, Sweden and Scotland the timing of day and night is so different [from the Middle East]. Even if you want to offer prayers five times a day, you cannot.

The word, ‘Ramadan,’ means ‘hot weather.’ How will you observe Ramadan in cold weather? There is no heat in countries like the United Kingdom; it is only in Mecca.

In the hottest month, you were supposed to fast. You put yourself into the hardship of hunger and thirst. When you’re living in a place which is very hot, you tend to sweat. When you sweat you lose minerals from your body due to which you feel weak. You can’t drink water because you are fasting; this teaches you how to discipline your hunger and thirst. This is how you submit to the will of God. If you are in -5°C weather, you don’t feel hunger or thirst [as much].

Practically, Islam is not compatible with many regions of the world.

Prayers are offered five times a day: Fajr (dawn), Zuhr (midday), Asr (late afternoon), Maghrib (sunset) and Isha (between sunset and midnight). In the United Kingdom, the sun sets at 4 PM and rises at 7 AM. Fajr time should be around 6:15-6:30 PM. When should Zuhr be? Let’s assume you have offered your prayers for Zuhr at 12:00 PM. You will have three hours until sunset; in those three hours, you will have to offer your Asr and Maghrib prayers as well.

When it is summer in the United Kingdom, especially in Scotland, the sun sets at 11-11:30 PM. Around 2 AM, the sun rises again. In this case, you will either have to offer your Isha (between sunset and midnight) prayers or your Fajr (sunrise) prayers. Is there any scholar in this world who can safely say that Islam is compatible in all regions of the world?

Islam is for Arabs only.

In Pakistan, I started to travel in the late 80’s. Whenever I would want to go out of the country, I would keep US dollars. The only time I would see a US dollar is when I was travelling abroad. We would talk about dollars when shopping in duty free, but once we were back in Pakistan, we would never talk about dollars. We would only talk about Pakistani rupees then.

The Arabs were war mongers; historically, they have been warriors. God could not afford the luxury of offering them love so he spoke to them in the same language [that they spoke in].

God said to them, ‘If you steal, I’ll chop your hands off.’ Because everybody would carry a sword.

This is why Sharia decrees: ‘An eye for an eye.’ This terminology is all about killing and wars. This was due to the society at the time.

Had the Companions of the Prophet taken advice from him, maybe Islam would have been seen as a religion of peace. Since Prophet Mohammad has been separated from Islam, Islam cannot serve humanity.

Further Comments from Younus AlGohar

It is strange that Islam is a religion of peace but three out of four first caliphs of Islam were murdered by the Muslims. And then Fatima, the daughter of the Prophet Mohammad, was tortured and killed by Omar Bin Khattab (the second caliph in Islam). Fatima’s house was set on fire. Later on, it was the Muslims who butchered the Holy Family of the Prophet Mohammad in Karbala. Bloodshed has been a regular occurrence in the Muslim world for the past 1400 years.

Younus AlGohar is CEO of Messiah Foundation International and Representative of HDE Lord Ra Riaz Gohar Shahi. He is recognised as an Ambassador of Peace and Man of Valour. He is an Advocate of interfaith harmony and global peace.